2019 Albuquerque High Schools Football Yearbook 11
Part of the change had to do with toiling in obscurity.
Gymnastics is done off campus, in serious gyms with
serious coaches. Ortiz’ classmates barely knew of his
prowess. Under the Friday night lights, though, Ortiz was
able to show off his athletic skills to his friends and family.
“I was a great athlete, but no one knew what I could
do,” he said. “That first game was amazing.”
Now entering his senior season with some local
college interest from Eastern New Mexico University,
Ortiz is eager to prove what he can do at running back,
where he split time with several other backs last
year.
He’s learned to embrace contact –
something he didn’t get much of on
the pommel horse – and deliver
the hit himself.
“My sophomore year, it was a struggle. I’d never hit
anyone in my life,” he said. “It was hard to get that mindset,
to want to hit people. The first scrimmage my sophomore
year, I got hit and got back up and I loved it. But this last
year, I started to love hitting people.”
Johnson, his head coach, has seen him come into
his own as a football player and is ready to hand him
the keys to the running game.
“He’s bulked up to 5-8, 165 pounds, but that 165 is
lean muscle,” Johnson said. “He’s a very athletic kid.
When you watch film on him, you look at it like, all of
that power is in there? I had a coach the other day when
he saw him say, ‘I would’ve never thought he’d have
that in him. I actually have to calm him down, you’re
running so fast, I almost get afraid he’s going to hurt
himself. Not only does he have the graceful aspect
of it, he wants to run you over. He’s moving at such
a high rate of speed, I’ve seen him pancake people
at 165 pounds.”